Page:Judaism and Islam, a prize essay - Geiger - 1898.pdf/139

 DISPUTE WITH KOBAH.

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Israelites made the golden calf, which Moses on his return dashed into pieces and gave to the Israelites to drink ; * and after that he appointed seventy men : 2 Later on he sent spies to Canaan, but they all except two were godless. The people let themselves be deceived by them and in consequence were obliged to wander for forty years in the wilderness. 3 Further, Moses had a dispute with Korah, whom the earth swallowed up, 4 and he was wrongly accused.

This last statement may be either a reference to the matter of Korah, or to the dispute with Aaron and Miriam. These are the main events of Moses's life as they are given in the Qur&n, and we have arranged them partly according to the order of their mention in that book, but more with reference to our better source. Besides all this, a wonderful journey which Moses is said to have taken with his servant 5 is given, about which we shall speak further on. To pass on now to details. Haman 6

Compare Ben Ezra, who in his comment on Exodus, iii. 2 admits a connection, between ^D and njlD- It is to be noted that those mentioned above who take Sinai as an appellation do not regard it as identical with the mountain on which Moses received the Law, which identification is merely cited as a possible view :

^>y &>* ^jy ^\ J<^ ytt> ty'yt J^j "Ben'Zaid says that this is the mountain from which Moses was addressed." D'Herbelot (Biblio. Orient, under Sina, page 798) says: The Arabs

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sometimes call this mountain Sinaini (.^JU, (which however should be /A*-, Sinani) with reference to its two peaks Horeb and Sina ; in this way Sinina might perhaps be taken as the genitive of the Arabic word

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Sinuna ^yu.

1 Suras II. 48-52, 87, VII. 148-155, XX. 82-99.

2 Sura VII. 1.54. 3 Sura V. 2329.

4 Sura XXVIII. 76-83. Sura XVIII. 59-81.

6 gC& Suras XXVIII, 5, 7, 88, XXIX, 38, XL. 25. Q